The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R saw a major re-design both visually and mechanically back in 2011. But since then the bike has been upgraded in small steps mostly in the direction of electronic rider aids, handling and new paint schemes. In July of 2015, there was news going around that there would be a new Ninja ZX-10R for 2016. In an interview with the German publication Speedweek, Guim Roda, the Team Manager of Kawasaki’s World Superbike racing team had mentioned that there would be a new bike for 2016, based on the same concept but with some new details and changes that would make the bike much more competitive.
To the joy of mean green Ninja fans, Kawasaki Heavy Industries have announced in a recent press release that there will be a new Ninja ZX-10R for 2016 confirming the earlier reports. The press release says that the new ZX-10R will get “subtle yet highly effective” changes to the design along with new suspension and braking components. The new bike would be very close to the World Superbike Championship winning machine that is being ridden by Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes this season.
As per the press release, Project Leader for KHI, Yoshimoto Matsuda says, “This is not a ‘clean sheet’ design as the current Ninja ZX-10R is such a good base to develop from”. This is agreeable, as the Kawasaki’s have dominated the WSBK championship in the recent years with Tom Sykes winning the championship in 2013 and missing out by just 2 points in 2014. Not to forget this year’s Championship won by Jonathan Rea by a huge margin.
He explains that with the new model, the development is focused on overall engineering and significant improvement in performance. The development, he mentions is based highly on inputs by the WSBK Kawasaki Racing Team, and the riders, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes resulting in the most competitive and potent Ninja ZX-10R to roll out of the Kawasaki Factory. The 2016 Ninja ZX-10R would be “A motorcycle equally at home on the race track or as a highly responsive daily riding road machine.” adds Matsuda. Seems that Kawasaki has taken the direction of other manufacturers such as Yamaha, Aprilia, Ducati and BMW and developed their bike keeping in mind the new stricter WSBK rules.
Kawasaki is likely all set to capitalize on the sensational WSBK championship won by Jonathan Rea this season but they also want to make sure that they keep winning more races in the 2016 season with the new improved bike. For a sport bike enthusiast, this is great news as the machines that they would buy would more closely resemble the machines being raced each weekend.
The new Ninja ZX-10R will be unveiled at a special press event in Catalunya this October. The wait won’t be long to see how the new Ninja would look like in flesh and get to know its new performance.